Mark Kariya | May 23, 2005
Barry Hawk didn’t let an off weekend in his schedule go unfilled – and he’s glad he didn’t. He picked up $1000 of the purse for winning round three of the Parts Unlimited Off-road Motorcycle and ATV Nationals, presented by DP Brakes.
Run in nearly ideal conditions over a technical course in Wellsville, Ohio, on Sunday, May 22, the Team Am-Pro Yamaha/FMF/MSR YZ250 racer got a decent start and quickly worked his way into the lead. After that, Hawk consistently put time on the rest of the field, though a last-lap crash cut into that lead and put him 40 seconds ahead of runner-up Jimmy Jarrett at the end of the two-hour event.
“I felt good,” Hawk said. “We made some changes from the Ohio [GNCC] race last week to this week – actually made some pretty drastic changes suspension-wise to my bike, just to try. We came out here, and it works pretty well. It seems like I can be a little more aggressive now like I need to be.”
Defending series champ Jarrett, on the other hand, didn’t enjoy such a comfortable gap over his nearest pursuer – $200 holeshot winner Doug Blackwell. The two racers banged bars almost continuously over the final lap, with Andrews Cycle/Kenda/Moose-backed Jarrett edging M2R/Maxxis/SCR-sponsored Blackwell by three seconds at the finish.
Series newcomer Charles Mullins was in contention for second on his Bridgestone/Wiseco/MSR YZ250 but ended up fourth. Brian Garrahan rounded out the top five on his Rentoneonline.com/NorCal Motorsports/Moose RM250.
Mark Kariya | Contributor
Kariya spends way too much time in the desert, but we’re glad he does as he’s the man who gets us our coverage of all things sandy.
